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Pints and Pinballs

It was the eighties: hair was permed, pants were high, and in almost every bar across the US you’d find folks glued to pinball machines and arcade games with bottled Bud in hand. Then, when the nineties rolled around, perms flopped, waistbands dropped and the days of in-bar games ground to a halt. Lamenting this loss, nostalgic locals Scott Davids and Noah Sutcliffe have given a modern reboot to the classic arcade with their newly unveiled DTLA bar and terrace, EightyTwo.

Named for 1982 – the peak era, or ‘Golden Age’ of arcade games – the full-service bar is a big boys’ playground of more than 40 rotating vintage arcade games and pinball machines, from Ms. Pac-Man and NBA Jam to Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat II. With breezeblock walls and a graffiti adorned concrete courtyard the space is big, bare and simple, but the beer selection splashes out with ten brews on draught and eight bottled varieties, plus a cocktail menu of game-themed drinks like the Princess Peach (a nod to Nintendo) mixed with peach puree, fresh raspberries, lemon juice, and rye. And at 25 cents a pop, even the most compulsive gamer won’t break the bank. Game on!